One Year On
by Skate-815
Summary: It's been one year since Phil left Sun Hill. Rhetrospective Sam/Phil and Sam/Stuart friendship/comfort. One shot.


**A Sam/Stuart oneshot with some sam/phil to fight the sudden appearance of all these sam/max-ers... Becky, I blame you for this :P**

**Phil's been gone a year.**

**Please review.**

"Sam!" DI Nixon turned as she heard the voice of her ex lover calling her

"DS Turner" she replied, by way of greeting,

"Are you coming to the seven bells tonight?"

"Tonight? What's happening tonight?" Sam asked, slightly confused. She has been planning on curling up on the sofa at home with a bottle of wine, and perhaps one of Abi's old romantic comedies that she'd used to scorn so much.

"It's my birthday." he said as if it were obvious, and she supposed after their three and a half month relationship, it probably should have been.

"Oh, of course."

"So will you be there?"

"Sure." She knew that Stuart wasn't the most popular man in the nick. Phil had seen to that, and despite the reason for their break-up, they had managed to remain on very good terms, "Who else is going?"

"Just Jo. I wanted to keep it small."

"I'll see you there after our shift then" she promised. He smiled, and said something about catching up with Mickey before disappearing from the corridor.

A full year had gone by since Phil's departure and Sam was surprised that she was coping better than she'd expected she would. In the later years of their friendship, Phil had been the one who was consistently there. He had matured considerably since the philanderer she'd first met and she found that he was the one she would turn to the most in her times of need. He had been her friend, her confident and the man she'd loved and his rapid decision to leave Sun Hill hurt her more than she could ever admit.

However, she had fast discovered in the following weeks and months that as much as she missed him, it wasn't as if she couldn't live without him. She had never felt that way about any man, and even though she and Phil were very different from any other relationship she'd ever had, even he wasn't enough to evoke that within her. She was strong. And Phil Hunter deciding he wanted a change of scenery wouldn't change that.

That being said, she had intended to stay in tonight and to indulge in a lot of self pity. She supposed she should thank Stuart for saving her from herself, but she had been looking forward to her wine…

* * *

"Hey" Sam slid into the booth next to Stuart, and put her bag on the seat next to her, "Where's Jo?"

"She had some sort of family emergency. It'll just be the two of us." As much as she valued Stuart's friendship, Sam didn't think that she really wanted to spend an entire night alone with him. Seeming as awkward as she felt, he cleared his throat softly

"I'll get the first round in." Despite it being his birthday, she allowed him and ordered a glass of red wine.

As he returned with the drinks, Sam couldn't help but comment

"I didn't know you and Jo were friends."

"It's a fairly recent development," Stuart shrugged, taking a sip of his beer

"But still…"

"You think Jo's too popular to be friends with me?" Stuart guessed correctly, but Sam laughed and brushed it off

"We're not in the playground, Stuart."

"But still…"He mimicked. A smile played across his lips, but there was something in his eyes that told her he wasn't just joking. Sam struggled to think of something to say, and finally decided on work.

"So what's DS Carter like?"

"I like him." Stuart to a long sip of his drink, before glancing towards her, "He works hard. And at least he seems to be able to exercise some degree of self control when it comes to women." Sam knew exactly what Stuart was implying about the man Max had replaced, and although she knew that in reality, Phil deserved whatever criticism he got in that department, she couldn't help but feel annoyed at his comment.

"Phil was a good copper."

"When it suited him" Stuart shot back, "Look I know he was your friend, but he could be a bastard as well."

"He gave as good as he got." she replied, forcing herself to keep her tone even, "And maybe he wasn't the only one in the wrong." Stuart looked about to argue further, but gave in

"Maybe…" she saw him glance at her again out of the corner of her eye, "It's a year today that he left, isn't it?" Taken aback, she nodded. Obviously sensing her surprised, he added, "It was the best birthday present I'd had in years." Sam couldn't help but laugh,

"You really didn't like him, did you?"

"What was your first clue?" she laughed again, and they fell into a brief silence, that Stuart once again took it upon himself to break.

"You miss him, don't you?" With anyone else, Sam would have lied, but she had the distinct feeling that Stuart wouldn't believe her if she did

"He was my best friend."

"Was? It's not as if he died, Sam"

"I know… It's just I haven't really seen much of him since."

"If I left, would you miss me?" the question came out of the blue for Sam, and when she met his soft brown eyes, she saw an emotion she couldn't quite place. He was the one to break the eye contact, with a muttered, "Sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"I would miss you." she interrupted, "You and I went through a lot Stuart. The fact we broke up doesn't change that we were friends."

"I screwed up over the miscarriage."

"Yeah, you did." Sam agreed with a slight incline of the head, "But you were freaking out. It was to be expected."

"I was the father. I should have been the one comforting you. But I was too scared, so you went to Phil."

"I would have gone to him anyway," Sam was surprising herself with her honesty, but she supposed now that she and Stuart's relationship was long dead, and Phil was gone, it didn't really matter.

"I know" Stuart's voice was heavy, "Because you loved him." a slow nod was all she could muster, and she began to wonder how exactly a birthday drink between friends had become this depressing.

"We had some good times though" she said quickly, in an effort to lighten the mood. "Like that date we had at that restaurant next door and your birthday…" Sam frowned, as Stuart became very interested in his drink, "Your birthday's in June" she realised suddenly

"Phil left a year ago today. I didn't want you to have to sit at home alone, thinking about him." Sam looked up, and found she wasn't angry.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Stuart looked mildly surprised, but wisely decided that this wouldn't be the time to question her. Glancing between them, she stood up slowly, and reached for her bag, "Hey, where are you going?"

"I think it's my round,"


End file.
